Better Days
by TanGrrYnes
Summary: Daryl finds Sophia alive in the woods and brings her back to Carol. After that, Sophia is stuck to him like glue. And Daryl doesn't mind. Carol notices how good Daryl is with Sophia and wonders if maybe the three of them could be something good together.
1. Chapter 1

**_Better Days_**

_A Walking Dead Fanfiction by TangrrYnes_

A piteous moan of despair tore at Daryl's ears like nails on a chalkboard. He was laying on the floor of Dale's RV, trying to get some shut-eye. But Carol was distraught with grief since Sophia went missing and there was no consoling her. There she lay in Dale's bed—only inches away, really- helpless to try and save her daughter from the dangers of the wilderness and from the living dead. Daryl scrunched his eyes shut tighter, as though doing so would block out the sound of Carol's sobbing. It did nothing to help. In fact, behind his eyelids he could see even clearer the face of the little girl with pale freckles, and he could hear even louder the cries of her mother.

"I'll be back," Daryl said, jumping to his feet and reaching for his crossbow. He couldn't stand to hear Carol crying anymore. It wasn't that it was annoying, or disturbing his sleep… he just couldn't bear to see a woman cry. Besides, the more time Sophia was out there, the less likely she was to survive. Hopefully, though, the kid had some fight in her and could make it until someone living could find her.

There had already been half a dozen of the group out looking for the girl, but as yet there was no sign of her. It was as if she walked off the face of the earth. But Daryl trusted himself better than he trusted any one of the others, and he knew he could find Sophia if he looked hard enough.

Out there in the woods, beyond the ghost of a highway filled with abandoned cars and corpses, Daryl moved quickly through the brush. A broken twig here, a scraped tree trunk there, nothing that an ordinary person would notice or even think twice about. There were many footprints, from the search party. He could discern whose footprints belonged to who but it wasn't important. The only pair of feet he was interested in right now was Sophia's, and he didn't see any tracks that might lead him to her.

It was hours before Daryl picked up a trail on the girl. Even so, he called out for her at every turn he made in hopes she would hear. He only hoped she wouldn't be afraid to approach him if she did hear him. Daryl thought back to the time he first met Sophia…It was nearly two months ago now. By the time he and Merle joined the group of survivors they were with, Carol, Ed, and Sophia were already there. Daryl never spoke directly to Ed, but he wasn't blind or deaf, and he could tell that Sophia was afraid of him by the way she flinched every time he barked her name across the camp.

_Daryl had been sitting on a large rock, fashioning a new arrow of wood, while Merle flirted unsuccessfully with Andrea. It was after dinner, and the children were playing tag. Sophia ran away from Carl, him being "it", and tripped right over Merle's large black boot and face-planted into the ground. _

_ "__Watch where you're going, Missy!" Merle said, aggravated. Sophia had gotten up and backed away slowly from Merle. _

_ "__S-sorry, Mister," she squeaked, and ran away. _

_Andrea had given Merle a cold stare before walking away from him, and Merle shrugged and sat down next to Daryl. _

_ "__Why'dja do that for?" Daryl grunted at his brother. _

_ "__Do what?" Merle said, completely oblivious._

_ "__Ye scared that girl. She's got enough t' be 'fraid of without ye hollerin' at 'er."_

And then when Ed died-well, got eaten—Sophia hardly seemed affected by it. In fact, she seemed a little less afraid of everyone. Maybe because after a few weeks of traveling with everyone all day, every day, you get used to people pretty quickly. Daryl had the feeling she was shopping for a new daddy. He noticed that she started hanging around the menfolk a lot, whereas previously she stuck strictly to her mother's side, or with the other children.

_"__Mr. Walsh? Where did you learn to make a fire without a match or lighter?" she would ask Shane. _

_ "__Your hat looks nice on you, Mr. Dale,"_

_ "__Glenn, do you want to play tag with us?"_

_ "__Excuse me, Mr. Dixon? My mama said to bring this to you," _

_That was the first time Sophia addressed Daryl. She stretched her skinny little arm out and offered Daryl a piece of candy. It was a lollipop, orange, to be precise. _

_Daryl gave a small shake of his head._

_ "__You don't want it?" Sophia asked, her big smile wilted._

_He would never admit it, but he really hated to see that little girl look so sad just because he didn't want a stupid piece of candy. He quickly plucked the lolly from her hand._

_ "__Thanks," he grunted. But Sophia didn't budge. She stared up at him expectantly. _

_Daryl nodded and bit his lip. Yep. He was gonna have to eat it. He pulled the candy from the wrapper and tucked it in his cheek. Satisfied, Sophia giggled and ran away to pass out more lollies from the stash in Carols' purse. _

"Sophia!" Daryl shouted, his voice growing hoarse.

It was now the dead of night and all Daryl had found was a whole lot of nothing. Tracking in the dark was useless. But Daryl kept on going. He eventually wandered more and more east, following first some fresh tracks, and then cautiously following behind a small group of Walkers. They dragged their feet slowly, stumbling, growling, drooling, in the same direction as the tracks. They could smell with their dead noses what Daryl couldn't: a living body. He was hoping the dead ones would lead him to Sophia. If she was one of them, they wouldn't bother with her, he reasoned.

The Walkers led Daryl through a small valley before they all three suddenly turned to the left and descended hungrily upon a pair of legs sticking out of a bramble bush. Daryl quickly shot an arrow at the Walker closest to the body and took out numbers two and three just as fast. He sprinted towards the bush—fearing the worst—but when he got there, he saw that the legs belonged to just another Walker, caught in the bush for other Walkers to feast upon. It was missing a great deal of flesh in its middle, and the legs were in bad shape, too, now that Daryl looked closer.

"Sophia!" he shouted again.

Those Walkers were chasing after some fresh meat. Daryl had new hope that Sophia was alive, and close.

"Sophia! It's me, Daryl...I'm gon' bring ye back ter yer Mama!"

His voice boomed in the quiet of the forest.

"C'mon, girl! I jus' want ye t' be safe. I jus' want yer Mama t'be happy…" As he said it aloud, he realized just how true it was. He wanted to find Sophia, for her sake, and he wanted Carol to be happy. Why? He barely knew Carol, why should he care if she was happy or not? His stomach twisted into confused knots but he didn't have time to ponder the depths of his heart.

Something shiny on the ground caught his attention. It was small, but still large enough to catch the light of his flashlight. Daryl crouched low to the ground and quiet as a fox slinked over to see what it was. The shiny object was a small piece of metal, attached to some mid-length hair which was matted and muddied against the head of a child laying in the dirt and leaves.

"Sophia!" he gasped, and dove to her limp body. "C'mon, tell me yer okay," he pleaded. She was unconscious, face-down in the dirt. Anybody or anything could have gotten to her there. There was no telling how long she'd been there. Daryl quickly checked her for any visible signs of bite marks or scratches. Seeing none, he shone the flashlight in her face to see a large purple and black bruise on her forehead, surrounding a laceration which had bled profusely.

Her eyes fluttered open and she groaned in pain.

"Hey, I gotcha," Daryl said softly. "'Member me? Daryl? I'ma take ye to yer Mama."

Sophia didn't answer right away. She seemed confused. Daryl couldn't help but frown. The poor thing definitely had some head trauma, probably a concussion. Not to mention she was starving and dehydrated, and terrified for her life. Daryl gingerly lifted her into his arms and took care to support her neck in the crook of his elbow like one would an infant. Daryl figured it would be a good ten or eleven miles before getting back to that farm. It was going to be a long way to carry a little girl but that wasn't what worried him. That head injury Sophia caught looked pretty nasty, and he didn't like how confused and out of it she was. He learned long ago that people who suffered concussions shouldn't go to sleep, and though she had likely been unconscious for some time, he had to try to keep her awake now.

"Hey," he said, looking down at Sophia while he made his way through the trees quick as he could.

"Hey," Sophia responded after a moment of thought.

"Ye excited? Ye get t' see yer Mom soon," he said. He thought maybe saying so would reassure Sophia that she was safe now and everything was okay, which is why he was mortified when Sophia wrapper her skinny little arms around his neck and bawled into his shoulder.

"I want my mommy!" she sobbed. "I want her! I'm scared!"

"N-now, don' be scared, Sophia. I'm gonna protect ye, ye hear? I'ma gonna make sure ye get back. Okay? And…and I'ma gonna tell everyone how brave ye was, and yer Mama is gonna be so happy yer back."

"She's… not mad?" Sophia asked slowly.

Daryl raised an eyebrow. "Mad? Nah. Worried, that's all. Misses ye. Tol' me so."

Sophia's eyelids began to flutter, and she struggled to stay awake. Daryl bit his bottom lip in concern. This kid needed medical attention fast.

"Stay with me, darlin'. Keep talkin'. What's your mama like, huh? Tell me all 'bout her."

"She likes to cook," Sophia said softly, fighting the urge to sleep. "She…likes to braid my hair, too…"

Daryl's heart was thundering in his chest. It was still a long way back to the farm and Sophia was in bad shape. He knew he had to hurry. He kept Sophia awake for a good while longer, prompting her to tell him about her mother, and about school before the outbreak, and about herself. But after reciting all 50 state capitols for the second time, she fell silent and limp again in Daryl's arms.

By the time the first rays of light bathed Daryl's boots in a golden hue, he was just clearing the length of the field beyond the barn at Hershel's farm. The end in sight, Daryl made a mad dash for the house, not stopping for anyone.

"Get Carol," he grunted at Rick as he flew past him, kicking the door open to Hershel's home.

"Hey! Old man!" Daryl hollered, "Sophia needs help!"

Hershel appeared in an instant.

"Pam, get the table ready. She's gonna need stitches," he said.


	2. Chapter 2

Rick ran as fast as he could to the RV where Carol was staying in.

"Carol! Daryl found Sophia!" he hollered, banging at the door. It flew open so fast he had to stumble backward to avoid being smashed in the face. Carol jumped down and ran, not waiting for Rick or anyone else. She didn't think she ever ran so fast in her life as when she ran for Hershel's home.

"Sophia, baby, Mommy's coming!" Carol cried, pushing her way past Beth on the porch and skidding to a stop before she crashed into the 'operating table' in Hershel's kitchen. Carol sobbed when she saw her little girl, having thought she'd never see her again.

"Oh, my baby," she moaned softly, reaching for Sophia's face to caress her cheeks.

"Carol, you can't touch her just yet," Hershel said, placing a soft yet firm hand on her shoulder. "She's got a head injury and I need to assess it. She'll need stitches, too, and she's dehydrated. Now, when she wakes up, she's gonna want to see her Mama, so you may sit—"

A chair skidded across the floor towards Carol, which Daryl pushed towards her with his foot. Nobody had noticed him standing in the shadow of the corner of the room, watching intently.

Hershel cleared his throat and started again.

"You may sit here with her as long as you like. Just let me and Patricia do our work."

Carol sat down in the chair Daryl offered her at the end of the table by Sophia's feet. It was the only place she could sit close enough to touch Sophia and not be in Hershel and Pamelas way. Carol wiped away a few tears and gently caressed Sophia's legs. She just wanted Sophia, somehow, to know she was with her mother again and she was safe and loved and alive.

Daryl wanted to see Sophia through her stitches and see that when she woke up she was okay. He also wanted to be around for Carol, but even he didn't know quite what that meant since there was really nothing more he could do. It didn't take very long for Hershel and Patricia to fix Sophia up. She needed twelve stitches on her forehead, some disinfectant for a few other scrapes, and some much-needed rest. That was it.

Once Hershel and Pamela left Carol alone with Sophia, Daryl decided he too would leave. He didn't have any rights to be there for Sophia anyhow. He crept out from his corner towards the door, silent as a fox.

"Please stay," Carol asked, without looking away from her daughter. Daryl froze in surprise, but turned back around and sat in a second chair.

"What happened to her?" Carol asked.

"She was out when I found 'er," Daryl said quietly. "Think she tripped on a rock an' hit her head on a tree goin' down."

"Where was she?"

"Forest," Daryl said simply. "She's lucky she weren't bit. Anything coulda got 'er where she was at, jus' layin' in the dirt. She'da made an easy snack for—" Daryl abruptly shut his mouth. Carol was now trembling in her chair, tears streaming from her eyes and a hand pressed tightly over her mouth. Maybe he shouldn't have said all that. Carol had been through enough suffering the last few days, she didn't need to think about how Sophia was laying face-down in the dirt on the cold forest floor, out in the open and practically on display for anything and everything to take a bite out of.

"Hey, she's gon' be just' fine," Daryl said, awkwardly patting Carol on the shoulder. "You got a tough kid there."

Daryl made to leave once more, figuring he said his piece, and Carol quickly reached for his hand.

"Thank you, Daryl," she said, patting his hand in a fashion Daryl wasn't sure how to take. "Thank you for everything you've done for Sophia, and for me." She brought his hand, held in both of hers, to her lips and kissed it.

Daryl took his hand back once Carol loosened her grip on it.

"Wasn't no trouble," he said. "Lemme know when she wakes up, will ye?"

"Of course. Sophia will want to thank her rescuer."

That made Daryl feel a little uncomfortable. He wasn't no 'rescuer'.

In the weeks that followed Sophia's return, things went about as normal. Well, as normal as life could be after the Outbreak. Daryl hunted, scavenged, and fished for the group, sometimes Andrea helped, sometimes Rick or Shane. Sophia was back to playing outside with Carl, or doing her chores or reading or coloring. Daryl felt like the others looked at him differently though. Carol certainly did, and treated him differently too.

At first, Daryl didn't notice. He just thought that was how Carol was, since he hadn't really got to know her before Sophia went missing. It seemed like every day, Carol and Sophia both went out of their way to greet him when the saw him, and Carol would often bring him extra foodstuffs or send Sophia over to him with something. Peaches, granola bars, dandelion greens. One time, at Carol's behest, Sophia gave Daryl a drawing she made of him and her.

Rick was there to see it when Sophia gave Daryl the drawing, and when she scampered off Rick laughed good and long. The drawing was of Daryl and Sophia holding hands, with little hearts and butterflies surrounding them and some dead Walkers in the background. Doodle Daryl had his crossbow and Doodle Sophia had a bloody forehead.

"Somebody has a crush on you," he teased Daryl.

"Stop." Daryl said flatly. "Carol's been givin' me all kindsa stuff lately. Sayin' hey all the time, doin' stuff for me. "

"Well, that's nice," Rick said, trying to hide his amusement. He could see what was going on here, but he didn't think Daryl did. He wasn't sure if he wanted to ruin Daryl's sweet ignorance of what was really going on.

Daryl carefully rolled up Sophia's drawing of him and stashed it in his backpack, so he'd always have it with him.

"Hey, would you mind if you gave Carol her shooting lesson today? I've got a meeting with Hershel about moving into his house now that winter is coming. We can't stay outside forever."

"Yeah," Daryl agreed. "Okay."


End file.
